Government ministry & industry chamber · Middle East
A protected national industry turned toward export before free trade arrived.
A c.$1.5bn industry growing at 0.5%, 700 closures in two years and a tariff wall about to fall.
4,000+ firms reached
80 industry interviews
15-year strategy
Capital commitment
Sovereign / public
National industry
The challenge
The industry’s debate was defensive: how to survive European competition. The ministry needed a strategy credible to government and thousands of mostly small firms - and specific enough to act on.
The work
The same agreement opening the home market also opened Europe. Competitiveness was benchmarked in both directions. A bottom-up sizing and 80-professional survey showed the gap was quality and market access, while the existing tariffs also taxed imported machinery and inputs.
The result
Twelve programmes assigned action across government, the chamber and individual firms. The roadmap was adopted and promoted to more than 4,000 companies. The stated limit remained: a 15-year strategy depends on execution across political cycles the adviser cannot control.
Engagements were won and led by Elliot Ronald and delivered by teams under his direction at Lion Strategy or its predecessor firm, Hambalt. Client confidentiality is absolute; cases are anonymised except where the work is already on the public record.